Los Chapitos Family Brunch @ El Chapos Tacos, Studio One Hotel Dubai

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After a lot of browsing around for a Saturday brunch that was family-friendly, the Los Chapitos brunch at El Chapo’s Tacos popped up in this recent Time Out article. “Kid-friendly vibe” it said, plus “activities to keep the little ones occupied.” Bit more googling landed in a review during their September launch which again went into a bit more detail – “staff to entertain the little amigos”, including “arts and crafts”. Their pinned insta-stories had photos and videos from the usual bunch – it looked fun 😉

  • Beautiful interior

So we booked for a large group – it was going to be a New Year’s catch up. We turned up late to join the rest of the troupe who were already there, and I was a surprised to see nothing for the little ones. Asked the staff and they said it’s no longer on… “because of Covid.” A bit odd, isn’t it, since the brunch only launched post-covid? Their facebook event for today marketed it as “weekend fun for all the family, entertain your little amigos with arts & crafts” – uh oh, looks like the restaurant and marketing team needs to have a little conversation! To be fair, the staff was nice enough to take out some sketches for the kids to colour in, but yeah – that’s it. Pretty disappointing, if I’ll be honest.

So in case anyone else is planning on heading over purely for kid’s entertainment, please give them a call beforehand to check if it’s “back on.”

Thoughts on everything else? Here’s what to expect 😉

What do you get for food?

In case you did not realise from the name of the restaurant – they serve mexican-fare. Staff is dressed in orange jumpsuits, it’s all very tongue in cheek – there’s even an area (where our kids were doing their colouring) which looks like a prison cell, haha. Overall vibe and decor was fun and playful.

Alright, back to the food. You get 4 courses. You start off with chargrilled corn on the cob (yum!) and guacamole with corn tortilla, the latter which my kids probably ate alllllll afternoon. Next were chicken quesadillas, cactus salad and torreados peppers. Quesadillas were good – I had to stop myself from having too much. Cactus salad? Not my thing. Course 3 was a choice of tacos – of which you choose either fish, beef or chicken. You get two tacos. The other option was nachos, with guacamole again – and lots of chilli corn carne. You end the afternoon with ice-cream because they didn’t have churros today, which was again quite disappointing. I love churros. Maybe next time?

And drinks?

This I was happy with – they had sparkling, Sol beer, and quite a few interesting cocktails. Loved their “Pot & powder” – it was spicy from their chili infused agave, with a tinge of sour from the lime juice, yet refreshing from their mint. I’ll be happy to return to try more of their cocktails.

And for kids?

As mentioned above, there is currently no entertainment at all. Ask them for some colouring paper if you wish, otherwise bring your own. The kids can entertain each other, which they did 😉 For food the kids get to choose from a menu and it’s served in the prison-style steel serving plates which was quite amusing for us. Even coffee is served in those steel mugs 😉

Overall?

It is priced reasonably so don’t be a smart-arse like me and try and ask them again if there are any discounts you can use. I would say it’s worth it if you are drinking, otherwise 149AED for tortilla, nachos and quesadillas.. well, you decide. Come here on a Saturday if you like your mexican food, a chilled vibe and if you live close to the area – that is Studio City. Other than our table, there were two other tables sat outside today so it is quiet. Possibly busier on a Friday? Just don’t expect lots of kid’s entertainment like it claims to have. I would seriously suggest they update their description to manage expectations……

Note : Non-sponsored. We all paid for the Los Chapitos Family Brunch at El Chapo’s Tacos, Studio One Hotel. Feedback on the kid’s entertainment, or lack-of, has been passed to the social media team of which they mentioned they will pass it on…

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Dubai resident. Stays most of the time in the marina as she can't be bothered going anywhere else after work and in the weekends. Originally from the land of the orang utans, spent the latter half of her life in the land down under. Always on the look out for deals, loves organising get-togethers, and occasionally steals some time for a sip of wine or four at ladies nights.

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